Champaign, IL – A new era for scientific discovery was launched following a recent groundbreaking ceremony for a new 90,000-square-foot computing facility for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the National Center for Super Computing Applications (NCSA). Clayco Inc., the project's construction manager, is building the facility to achieve LEED certification.
Located in the northwest corner of Oak Street and St. Mary's Road in Champaign, the NCSA Petascale Computing Facility (PCF) will house a new supercomputer currently in development, Blue Waters. This IBM system's enhanced computing power will be the world's fastest computer – 500 times more powerful than the supercomputers currently being used.
The PCF will feature a command center, system administration center and office space for 50 staff members. It will also contain a 20,000-square-foot machine room with a 6-foot raised floor large enough to house Blue Waters, as well as other systems.
